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Texas A&M beefed up its women's basketball roster as former LSU guard Janae Kent announced her commitment to play for the Aggies after an uneventful 2023-24 season with the Lady Tigers.
Women's Hoops Network confirmed the development in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Kent will strengthen the Aggies' backcourt, which is set to lose one of their top contributors from last season, guard Endyia Rogers.
The six-foot-one athlete is set to team up with Janiah Barker, Lauren Ware and last season's top scorer, Aicha Coulibaly, as Texas A&M looks to improve on its NCAA Tournament first-round appearance.
Kent was a former four-star prospect in LSU's 2023 recruitment class, which also featured Angelica Velez, Aalyah Del Rosario and Mikaylah Williams. One of the reasons Kent opted to transfer is the lack of playing time she had with the Lady Tigers under coach Kim Mulkey.
It's expected that Texas A&M will give the incoming sophomore more playing time, especially now that they are looking for a player that will fill up the void left by Rogers in the backcourt.
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Janae Kent's 2023-24 stats with LSU
Kent's first year with LSU was considered uneventful by her standards as a sought-after high school recruit. The freshman shared backcourt duties with Hailey Van Lith, Last-Tear Poa, Flau'jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams.
She averaged 1.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists on 31.7% field goal percentage for the guard-heavy Lady Tigers. The competition for minutes in LSU's guard rotation was fierce, so the freshman only averaged 8.0 minutes of exposure time per game.
Kent often played in situations where the outcome was already decided. She scored her season-high of seven points twice during LSU's 112-55 win over Queens University and 106-47 victory over Texas Southern.
Her longest appearance was 24 minutes against Ole Miss but didn't get enough ball touches due to the presence of Van Lith, Johnson, Morrow and Williams. She started in the first round of the Women's NCAA Tournament against Rice and played for a minute to score one point.
Kent had another one-minute appearance in the second round against Middle Tennessee but went scoreless. Coach Mulkey did not field her in LSU's games against UCLA and Iowa in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, respectively, opting for a leaner lineup that she believed had a better chance of winning these games.
Kent will get a second chance to unleash her true potential with Texas A&M as she aims to contribute more to the team next season.
Will Janae Kent get more exposure in Texas A&M next season? Let us know in the comments section below.
